And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but
those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
So Jesus was saying to
those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly
disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you
free.” (John
8:31-32)
For certain persons have crept
in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation,
ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our
only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. that Christ set us free;
therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
(Galatians 5:1)
For certain persons have crept in
unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation,
ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our
only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)
There’s a meme I see now
and again that talks about the churches being hospitals. They aren’t there to
treat the healthy/righteous, but to care for those dead in sin/sinners. The
idea may have come from today’s first passage. The metaphor for the second
passage is legal rather than medical, but it’s the same idea. Freedom and
health are found in Jesus.
For some, the idea this
engenders is that we should bring the sick and enslaved into the church in
hopes that someday, their sin-sickness will be cured or their shackles removed,
and until then, it’s a long-term care facility where the illness is permitted, ignored,
tolerated, and even celebrated.
If the Church is a
hospital, the whole point of a hospital is to cure and heal, not to pretend
they aren’t sick until they get better. Those who say that it’s the Holy Spirit’s
job to heal and free and that we shouldn’t try to usurp His role are correct,
but if you read through the letters to the churches in Revelation, the leaving
of their first love and tolerance of sin and those committed to sin are among
the main charges Jesus makes against them. In I Corinthians, Paul takes the
church in that city to task for their tolerance of a couple who were sinning.
Yes, by all means, the
church is to be a place where people are accepted, loved, educated, edified, encouraged, and enlightened.
It is not a place where sin is to be accepted, celebrated, encouraged, or empowered. Unfortunately,
some people we welcome aren’t seeking healing or freedom. They come to evangelize
the Church. They come as “Angels of Mercy” to kill, further infect, or enslave
those who seek healing and freedom.
Like the many ploys human-traffickers
supposedly use to lure the unsuspecting away, these folks are con artists and gas-lighters,
tricking others to get them into their power and then using them to further
their agendas. We not only need to be watchful for our own sakes, but watchful
lest we become unwitting mules for their lies.
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